Meet Kantu: UNZA tutor, singer, activist

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HOW do you treat your lecturer at university who is also a popular singer in town?

“It is always clear from the word go, when I am in class, it is teaching time. My students are the best. They actually never talk about my music in class. They understand that when I am in class, it’s time to learn,” Kantu says.

Kantu Habanji Siachingili combines her career as a geography lecturer at the University of Zambia (UNZA), singer-songwriter and activist.

“When I got the job [at UNZA], I strategised on how I was going to use my time, there was no way I was going to stop music or teaching, so I record mostly at night and during the day I teach,” she says.

“I sacrifice a lot to make it work. I had to cut down on socialising because I believe nothing great has ever come from comfort zones.”

Kantu has an album titled Chronicles of a Single Woman, which is essentially about her.
“I love to think of my album as being my chronicles, this album is very personal, it’s about me. I’ve poured my heart out and I feel like these are chronicles of every single woman out there. What I’ve put on this album I’m pretty sure they’ve experienced it too,” she says.